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Preservation of microdata

This project is producing guidance to assist official data producers in defining and meeting their digital preservation requirements and obligations. The recommendations identify steps for developing an effective preservation approach suited to the needs and requirements of individual official data producers, and for complying with standards and best practice within the digital preservation community; the latter is committed to long-term management of digital content of all types.

Project status: Closed
Sponsor(s): World Bank Development Grant Facility, Grant No 4001010-06, administered by the PARIS21 Secretariat at OECD
Implemented by: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
Type of output: Working paper

This document provides basic guidance for managers in statistical agencies who are responsible for preserving data using the principles and best practices defined by the digital preservation community. The document defines the rationale for preserving data and the principles and standards applied to data preservation; documents the development of a digital preservation policy; and uses digital archive audit principles to suggest best practices for data.

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For more information and materials related to the preservation of digital data and metadata, see our Guidelines on Preservation.